The Miami Dolphins are looking to move on from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa this offseason, and we now know how they plan on doing so.
According to Jonathan Jones of CBS, Miami prefers to trade Tagovailoa and for a team to take a chunk of his contract.
However, there isn’t a high chance of that happening, so league insiders expect the Dolphins to just cut Tagovailoa with a post-June 1 designation, eating $67.4 million in dead cap.
“The Dolphins would love for someone to give them draft compensation and take part of Tagovailoa’s contract. That’s an extremely unlikely scenario. Releasing Tua with a post-June 1 designation is the option nearly everyone in the league anticipates,” Jones said.
Miami cutting Tagovailoa would be ideal for teams in the quarterback market this offseason, including the Minnesota Vikings, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals.
Minnesota will be pursuing veteran signal-callers this offseason to compete with J.J. McCarthy, and Tagovailoa could be an option if he gets released, as it will cost much less to sign the Alabama product on the open market than trading for him.
Pittsburgh is likely to re-sign Aaron Rodgers, but if that doesn’t happen, Tagovailoa could emerge as an option for the Steelers.
Cleveland could also be searching for a starting quarterback, as the franchise isn’t fully committed to Shedeur Sanders. Adding Tagovailoa to serve as a bridge would be a logical move from general manager Andrew Berry.
Finally, the Cardinals are looking to move on from Kyler Murray, and though Tagovailoa would be a downgrade, the 27-year-old could be a short-term replacement for Murray until the Cardinals can find their next quarterback of the future.
We’ll see where Tagovailoa ends up playing in 2026, but the 2023 Pro Bowler potentially getting cut would be a fantastic development for quarterback-needy squads.
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